Subaru Legacy/Outback Wagons Maintenance & Repair

Comments

Juice: Appreciate the link to the used parts dealer. LOL -- have you EVER had good luck trying to get specific info on car parts (phone or email) from a "recycling yard".

The mirror issue will be resolved. I am prowling supermarket lots with my ruler and a note pad, making notes on model years, mounts, mirror types, placement, colors, plastic composition, etc. I shall gladly share my treasure trove of advice on this important issue when I have firm intelligence (like actually replacing one on my '98 OBW).

Gee -- am I the ONLY one on this forum with a damaged outside door mirror? Hmmmmm.

The problem is that water, salt, etc has gotten under the clear coat on the silver / natural part of the rim. I'll bet the gold portion looks flawless. I have found that once the clear coat starts peeling, it doesn't stop.

Paint might not adhere to the clear coat unless prepped properly, Guaranteed, it will continue to lift off along with the new paint. The clear coat that is left on the rim is tough. I don't think that wet sanding or scotch pad will take it off - this could be accomplished with a buffing wheel on an electric drill with polishing grit. Course to remove the clear coat and debris, and fine to polish.

I have let the clear coat peel, and have a routine of cleaning the rims every time I wash the car. Brass brush to knock off the peeling clearcoat. Aluminum rim polish to get rid of the black, then a light coat of spray wax to keep dirt from bonding. Not perfect, but passable.

Stripping, masking and painting would be a chore. Given the time, I might attempt this over the summer.

One option with wheels is to have them professionally done. They can strip off all the old clear and then powdercoat the wheels. Powdercoating by itself usually costs $40-80 per wheel, not sure about stripping and prep.

Rob - I pretty much know what will be involved in painting them (I think!). I don't believe the old clear has to be removed 100%. Granted, anything that is loose will have to come off. My guess is that by starting out with, oh, say 220 grit then moving to 400, then 600, etc. that I can remove the bad paint & prepare the surface of the existing clear to receive a new coating of base coat & then clear over top. My plan would be to stay away from the gold completely by masking - or if possible touch the gold lightly when sanding with the finer grades, mask it when painting the base on the wheels, then remove the mask & cover everything with clear.

Craig - I thought about having them dome professionally. However, looking at what it would cost per wheel, I can buy custom wheels for just a little more. For instance, The Tire Rack (www.tirerack.com) has a painted, 5 "open" spoke 15" x 6.5" rim for the car at $105 each. If I were going to spend close to $100 a rim for reconditioning, I'd rather buy new ones & keep the factory rims for winter. In fact, I might just have to do that anyway, if my attempt at reconditioning doesn't work out well!

You probably should plan on spending at least $150 per wheel to get something decent. Cheap wheels can lead to problems down the road (bending, cracking, etc). Subaru factory wheels are quite strong and relatively light, yet many aftermarket wheels can be heavy and not hold up to bumps, potholes, etc... If I were to classify Subaru wheels in the lineup of aftermarket wheels I have seen, I would say the average upscale Subaru wheel is comparable to a $200-250 aftermarket wheel (obviously the BBS wheels on the STi are higher!!). So, there may be more value in fixing up the old wheels.

If you do go aftermarket, Rotas are a good low-cost choice. Most sets sell for $575-650.

Keep an eye on the weight. If the new wheels are significantly heavier than the old ones, you will notice the effect.

Is if you are driving a Legacy or Outback (most, not all) you won't notice the difference between a heavy or light wheel. Heck I barely notice the difference on my Impreza L at the track and it's only 2500lbs with 137hp.

I am kind of frustrated with my Outback and needed to see about how others opionion. It is a 2001 Ltd with 45,000 miles on it. I brought it into the dealership today for an oil change and some funky thing going on with my security system. It was locking and unlocking on its own. They think they have tracked down the cause with corroded wires. If that does not work, I will have to pay for a new harness (??) that holds the system in place. Odd that I would have to pay for that. I have the 100k service warranty.

Also, my front rotors need to be fixed and I have almost nothing left of my rear brakes. I would figure with all of my highway driving that 45k would not be long enough for the rear brakes to be shot. They are replacing them tomorrow. (Luckily I have a loaner)

While Craig makes a good point about the quality of Subaru wheels (holding up much better that the younger wheels from my Honda Odyssey), I think I have the Tire Rack wheels you sited. I got a snow tire package from them in 2002 with the Sports Edition Fox-5 ($105 each). They look very similar to Subi WRX with 5 'double spokes'. They are a TR 'house brand' made by FOMB in Italy. Silver paint over alloy. They seem to be decent for the price, and are holding up well nearing the end of their second NY winter. Spec wise, their offset is 5mm off from factory, probably not enough to do much harm (I hope...).

A masking trick a friend has had some success with - use Vaseline to coat that which you don't want painted. After the paint's dry, wipe awawy the Vaseline. Still kind of tedious, but his turned out nicely.

OK, I think your car is fine then. At least regarding the brakes, that's normal wear and tear (and warped rotors are a known occurence with Outbacks, but not a major issue).

The part about the security system is odd. If it ends up costing you out of pocket to fix, I probably would just ask them to unplug the security system unless you really feel you need it. If they unplug the security system, you should still have keyless entry. Something to keep in mind if the cost of repair seems excessive.

Were the rotors warped? If so, see if Subaru will replace them under warranty. Quite a few people have had this problem (myself included). As for 45K befroe needing brakes- that's good in my opinion. I had mine done (front & rear) at 30K.

I do have the extended warranty and hopefully the rotors will be covered. The front were warped.

I don't see why the security system is not covered if they actually installed it at 19,000 miles? I don't need it where I live, but I travel quite a bit; especially to Boston and NY and park at airports so I would really like to keep it.

Just got my 2002 LL Bean and as I am very concerned about proper maintenance I changed the oil today.......like to do as much as possible myself.....when I started the car after the oil change there was a strange noise from ubderneath the car, almost like a rattle or vibration...lasted only a moment......it was still on the car ramps.......I put it down to the new oil getting going but I never had it happen with any car in the past....has anyone had this?????? thanks much....Irish.

Might have taken that moment for the oil to get up to pressure, thru the filter, etc. I'm guessing the noise went away concurrent with that happening. Suggestion: If your oil filter screws on straight up-and-down (vertically), try filling it with fresh oil before installing it. Might get oil circulating that much quicker.

I have been changing the oil on my Bean since new. It made that noise for the first time on the last oil change, at 37500 miles. So, I know the sound -- and it's the noise crank bearings make before they get oiled up. Nothing to worry about as long as the noise goes away in 1-2 sec.

I got my 2001 Outback back yesterday after they had it for two days. They "fixed" the auto door-lock and alarm system, repaired the rotors and installed new rear brakes. The total bill: $732. I was shocked to say the least. I picked it up on a Sat so no one in service was available.

I had Subaru install the alarm system and that was $272 to fix it. Well, less than 24 hours later, I can unlock..but not LOCK the doors with the indoor auto locking switch.

Looking at their rates..it was almost 10 hours to repair the car. The sales guy on Saturday hinted that they are short-staffed at this point. Happy that I am paying extra for that.

Hey Juice- I'm just curious as to why Subaru isn't selling the regular Legacy L models for 2004. According to SOA's website and this one the cheapest Legacy models that are being sold right now are the L 35th Anniversary editions. The reason I'm commenting on this is because my father is interested in a Legacy wagon, but he doesn't want a sunroof, fog lights, alloys and those other frills. And no-frills L models of any year are tough to find from our experience.

The 2005 models will offer a 2.5i (base) model with no moonroof. I think it will have alloys, but why not reduce unsprung weight? It's less mass for the suspension to fight with.

fitzy2: next time, see if you can find an incline and then aim the car down, then drive up the ramps. That leaves it about level while you're going the work. That may or may not help the oil circulate faster, but it's worth a shot.

Also, try pre-filling the new oil filter before you install it. Folks here gave me that hint.

One of my favorite topics - if you want to see just how long it takes the oil to start to run through a new filter - fill it once, let it set for a couple of minutes - can't find the oil? Its all in the element. I usually add oil a few times, such that it's about 1/2 to 3/4 full when I put it on the engine.

I'm afraid I had "prime the filter" so thoroughly drummed into me when I was a kid, I'll always believe its the best way to go.

Here's an observation that makes no sense - Purolator OEM's the Subaru filters, -but- at least for the filter's I'm using now the Purolators thread on easier. Strange.